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Aquinas on divine impeccability, omnipotence, and free will

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2018

AGUSTÍN ECHAVARRÍA
AGUSTÍN ECHAVARRÍA*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, University of Navarra, Pamplona, E-31009, Spain
*
e-mail: aechavarria@unav.es
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Abstract

This article analyses Aquinas's conception of divine impeccability, and replies to some contemporary objections to this view. The first three sections show that for Aquinas the proposition that expresses God's impeccability is necessary de re, since God's moral goodness is grounded in His ontological goodness. The fourth section presents the connection between God's will and God's power and explains the sense of Aquinas's claim that God cannot sin because He cannot will to sin. The last three sections address the objections based on the apparent incompatibility between omnipotence and impeccability, and between impeccability, free will, and praiseworthiness.

Type
Original Article
Information
Religious Studies , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 256 - 273
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018

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